1. The "Is He Ok" Moment
Not sure what the cameras caught, but Bret Michaels of Poison took a little too much time on his exit after his rockin' opening number . . . and caught an incoming drop in the head. It knocked his cowboy hat right off his head, and the hat stayed on stage for several minutes as a reminder of the carnage we had all witnessed.
2. The "Did You Forget Something" Moment
Did anyone else notice that Liza didn't have an envelope when she went out to announce the winner of Best Musical? Why do I get nervous every time I see her do anything?
3. The "When Did They Write That" Moment
Kudos to the writers for drafting that clever closing number while the show was going on. Ok, I'm sure they wrote some stuff in advance, but, nevertheless, it's always great to go out with a few laughs. And there were some doozies in there.
4. The "You talk. No, you talk. No, you talk" Moment
Watching and waiting for one of the Billys to speak after they won their historic award was some of the finest silence on television. Those kids are a living example of, "They don't even have to do anything. They just have to stand there."
5. The "I Made A Big Star Blush" Moment
Hugh Jackman made Sarah Jessica Parker blush years ago when he got her involved with a Boy From Oz number. This year, it was Gavin Creel all up in Anne Hathaway's bizness during the Hair number, and when he crawled off her, she buckled over with laughter and let out a big smile like she was a 12 year old girl at a combination Miley Cyrus/Justin Timberlake concert . . . with backstage passes. And guess who showed up at the Hair party later on . . .
I had a lot of favorite moments from last night's ceremony. Overall, I thought it was a terrific show (although from what I "hear", there were a ton of sound problems that we didn't experience at the show itself). How do I judge it? Well, I think back to when I was a teenager and used to watch (and tape) the Tonys from my small hometown in Massachusetts, which seemed thousands of miles away from Broadway. If I think "the kid inside" would have liked the show, then I give it a thumbs up.
And this year, the 16 year old had a blast and would have played it over and over again on his VCR.
I'll have the results of the Tony pool soon. Stay tuned.
And tomorrow I'll tell you how I did in my predictions, and where and why I went wrong.
What did you think of last night's Tony Awards? Comment below.
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9 Responses to My Top 5 Tony Moments from Last Night’s Telecast
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I posted mine over in my journal, http://cahwyguy.livejournal.com/891087.html
The technical team should be banned from television. Period. Poor direction, especially during the in memoriam segment where names were getting cut off by the angles and I started to get a headache from the rapid camera movemments. The sound design was an epic fail from the opening number to moments throughout (Best Save of the Night goes to the well-dressed gentleman who shot out onstage with a hand held for Titus).
I have to admit Bret Michael getting dropped was pretty funny. I hope he’s ok though.
Probably the most memorable moment of the show goes to the singer of Poison getting clobbered by the set. I almost wore out my TIVO watching that.
Liza did her usual hog-calling and world-famous imitation of an emu being electrocuted. But with extra sass.
Last night was further proof that B’way is in a B(ad)’way.
Real bad.
Re: #3, the closing number was written completely in advance: during the dress rehearsal, NPH sang all of the same lyrics as he did on the telecast. – I had spent the whole day hoping those were only the practice lyrics and not necessarily spoilers of the real results, but alas, the winners Neil named turned out to be the real winners.
I thought it was one of best Tony broadcasts I’ve seen in years. There were numerous sound issues, but if you think about how many wireless mikes were being used simultaneously during the opening number, I guess it was understandable.
Overall, I thought it was a pretty great broadcast. The sound issues were really annoying. I wasn’t impressed with the touring productions. Mamma Mia’s felt too long and Legally Blonde’s started so abruptly. And the opening number, aside from Bret Michaels being taken out by the set, wasn’t all that impressive. Great idea, poor execution.
The sound issues didn’t bother me-I LOVED the broadcast and thought Neil Patrick Harris was the perfect host. His familiar face (from TV) may even have demystified Broadway for viewers who hadn’t seen many (or any) of the nominated plays but still wanted to enjoy the phenomenal performances of people who chose that life because it’s in their blood and “if you can make it here,” etc. The brightest stars for me were the 3 Billy’s . . . hope they got a photo op with Angela Lansbury to show the world that age is not an issue when raw talent is in the mix.